AFL coach moves: Roos in, Thompson out
One coach is getting closer to signing on – another is moving further away: Paul Roos and Mark Thompson had different AFL stories to tell last night.
Roos is in discussions with Melbourne Football Club and Thompson, as senior assistant at Essendon, has been expected to fill the shoes of the suspended James Hird for a year.
Thompson is a regular panellist on Fox Footy’s AFL 360 and Roos is part of the program that follows it on Monday night, On The Couch.
First it was Thompson. Sounding exhausted, he admitted he’s still struggling with the emotional toll of the AFL club’s supplements saga and is unsure if he wants to be the interim coach.
Thompson was last week nominated by Hird as the obvious choice to fill the role for the 12 months Hird has been suspended by the AFL.
“I’m still no clearer. I just don’t know whether (I can). Right now the way I feel probably no,” Thompson told AFL 360.
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Thompson acknowledged he was still in a “dark spot” emotionally as a result of the stress imposed by the anti-doping investigation the Bombers have endured.
He said he was not in a good state to be making decisions on his future.
“Probably not. I need to go away. I go away this weekend,” he said.
Paul Roos, however, was much more upbeat about his possible return to coaching.
The Sydney 2005 premiership coach said last Friday night he was a “50-50” chance to coach the Demons.
Roos said getting the approval of his family was a crucial step in the process and he wanted to wait until his wife and eldest son return from a trip to Bhutan before making a commitment.
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“They’re the most important thing for me,” Roos told On The Couch last night.
“If any of them said no, it’s a no.
“I think Tami and Dylan arrive back on Tuesday morning about 8 o’clock.”
But he said that was not the only factor, as he was yet to be completely certain in his own mind that he was ready for the commitment coaching involved.
“That’s really what it is at the moment,” he said.
“It’s just saying, to be fair to the Melbourne Football Club and the players and the members and everyone like that, you’ve got to be fully committed to do it.”
Roos confirmed that he had met with Melbourne’s senior players late last week to get a sense of what their prospects were.
With the discussions so advanced, the 50-50 is sounding more like 95-5.
Thompson sounds like the last thing he wants is to take charge of the clean-up after James Hird and then wait for him to return.
– with AAP
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